Not all churches are homophobic: Dr. Jesse Jennings preaches universal love at his Creative Life Spiritual Center

When I moved to Houston in 1992, one of the first orders of business was to find a spiritual home where I could find acceptance and support.

One Sunday morning, I drove out 45 North to Spring to check out a "new-age" church I’d heard about–the Creative Life Spiritual Center. I tried to stay open-minded about a church that called itself a "center."

The center was on the second floor of an office building. At the top of the stairs stood a man. "Welcome, I acknowledge the good in your life," the stranger said and hugged me. I had no idea the full extent of the greeting’s meaning. That was the church’s minister and visionary, the Rev. Jesse Jennings.

In the simple service, Rev. Jennings led us in song and meditation. His message was simple but profound: "We are all perfect creations of God. There is nothing you have to do, no change you have to make, to be beloved of God."

Over the years I have experienced this "unconditional acceptance" at Creative Life Spiritual Center. Not a church in the traditional way of speaking, it is a center for spiritual discovery and growth.

Dr. Jennings’ center is part of the Science of Mind movement and the United Church of Religious Science, founded by the American philosopher Ernest Holmes (not to be confused with the Church of Christ Scientists or the Christian Scientists).

Creative Life is a place where your "affectional" orientation is accepted fully–where you are welcome to display affection with your partner–hold hands, hug, and kiss. In 1988 the United Church of Religious Science (UCRS) issued a statement, which said, in effect, "We do not discriminate against anybody for any reason"–which was to be followed in both hiring and volunteer positions. Earlier this year the UCRS authorized its ministers to perform ceremonies honoring same-sex unions.

Creative Life has reached out to the Houston gay community in several ways. They had an active AIDS care team with FIRM, the Foundation of Interfaith Research and Ministry. They were also a vital part of Ron Davis’s Center for Positive Living located on Commonwealth.

"Every Monday became ‘Religious Science’ night," said Dr. Jennings, "and we created a fun, high energy service that was attended by an amazingly diverse group of people. I remember one time when we had a student who was HIV positive and in Park Plaza Hospital and we had class around his bed."

Dr. Jennings writes a column read monthly by more than 75,000 worldwide in the Science of Mind magazine. His book The Essential Ernest Holmes will be published in spring 2002. Church member Jill Boullion interviewed him for OutSmart. –Thomas Chelena

Jill Boullion: Describe what absolute unconditional acceptance looks like?

Dr. : Our religious science teaching is that we are all perfect creations of God, and that there is nothing you have to do, no change you have to make, to be beloved of God. That you are satisfied with how you are is all that matters. You are harming no one just being yourself. At the same time, if others are uncomfortable with you, it’s an opportunity to hold out healing to them–not, of course, by praying for them to change, but by practicing understanding and forgiveness, while refusing to be marginalized. We believe that any act of affection between consenting adults should be celebrated. At our spiritual center you are embraced not in spite of, but because of, your affectional preference.

What is Science of Mind and when and where did it begin?

The philosophy known today as Science of Mind had its beginnings around 1915 when a man known as Ernest Holmes began holding public lectures on "mental law" and other spiritual topics. Ernest discovered the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson as a young man, and then Thomas Troward, and started his lectures based on Troward’s writings. In 1927 the Religious Science Institute was opened and began to teach classes. Today the Science of Mind philosophy is also an organized church, The United Church of Religious Science. Until his death in 1960, Ernest Holmes was a seeker of the truth, and his teaching is recognized today as one of the leading viewpoints in modern metaphysics.

The issue of sexual preference within the Church of Religious Science really doesn’t exist?

We look forward to the day when, in the words of writer and critic Bruce Bawer, "homosexuality becomes something of absolutely no interest whatsoever." In the meantime, so long as divisions are drawn between people who love those of the other gender and people who love those of the same, we will be working in consciousness to heal that division by refusing to recognize that it has any right to exist in the first place.

We’ve been performing "holy union" ceremonies at our center since the beginning.

What about those churches that welcome gays "in spite of" and then wish they would change?

Well, those are places where people are taught that being gay is contrary to God’s will. On the plus side, they are willing to try to look past your affectional orientation and see who else you might be. On the minus side, doing so discounts a huge part of who you are. There are those who believe that praying for gay people will make them heterosexual. Praying for anyone else to change into what we think they ought to be is not only futile but also arrogant.

The Creative Life Spiritual Center is located at 5326 Spring Stuebner Rd., 281/350-5157, www.creativelife.org. Services are Sundays, 9 & 11 a.m.